Junya Watanabe
REVIEW
COMPLETE COLLECTION
PARIS, October 2, 2007
By Sarah Mower
The gauzy, drape-y beauty of Junya Watanabe's Spring collection adds something relaxed to the current dialogue about vivid color, goddess dressing, and flower prints. Somehow, without being remotely pedestrian, each of his bunchy wrapped dresses, whipped around the body out of one seamless piece of tablecloth linen—bright pink, followed by lime, cobalt, and cerulean blue—made summer dressing seem, for the first time this season, beautifully effortless.Using simple materials tethered to bands of utilitarian tape, Watanabe created shapes that wound asymmetrically here and there, baring the back or dipping off the shoulder. A man of few words, the only clue he gave afterward about his starting point was, "It all goes back to Africa." In retrospect, you could see what he meant, but, as with so many collections these days, it's not so much the conceptual origin that matters—only whether the designer transforms it into something a woman can imagine wearing. On that score, this collection delivered a rare sequence of delightful surprises.
After the drapery, Watanabe worked in superbright ruched chiffon jackets with pocket detailing edged in strips of gold lace—Coco-like in front, but crafted into scrolled eighteenth-century peplums in the back. Following that, he tackled the flowers, making bloused smocks in forties-influenced tea-dance prints, then breaking out into classic arts-and-crafts Liberty-print tan lawn cotton dresses. Suffice to say, it amounted to one of the season's most sensitive interpretations of overground trend from an underground source—experimental, yet never deviating from Watanabe's recognizable signatures.
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Spring 2008 Ready-to-Wear
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3.1 Phillip Lim 6267 -
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D&G Daks by Giles Deacon Danielle Scutt Daryl K Derek Lam Derercuny Diane von Furstenberg DKNY Dolce & Gabbana Donna Karan Doo.Ri Douglas Hannant Dries Van Noten Dsquared² Duro Olowu -
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Elie Saab Elie Tahari Emilio Pucci Emporio Armani Erdem Erin Fetherston Etro -
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Fashion East Fendi -
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Gareth Pugh Giambattista Valli Gianfranco Ferré Giles Giorgio Armani Givenchy Gucci -
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Haider Ackermann Heatherette Helmut Lang Hermès -
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Iceberg -
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J. Mendel Jasmine Di Milo Jason Wu Jean Paul Gaultier Jenni Kayne Jens Laugesen Jeremy Laing Jill Stuart Jil Sander John Galliano Jonathan Saunders Jovovich-Hawk Junya Watanabe Just Cavalli -
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Karen Walker Karl Lagerfeld Katy Rodriguez Kris Van Assche -
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L.A.M.B. L'Wren Scott Lacoste Lanvin La Perla Lela Rose Limi Feu Louise Goldin Louis Vuitton Luca Luca Luella Luisa Beccaria -
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Naeem Khan Naoki Takizawa Narciso Rodriguez Nathan Jenden Nicole Miller Nina Ricci Noir -
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Ohne Titel Oscar de la Renta -
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Paul Smith Women Peter Jensen Peter Som Phi Philosophy Pollini Prada Preen Pringle of Scotland Proenza Schouler -
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Rachel Comey Rachel Roy Rag & Bone Ralph Lauren Réyes Richard Chai Richard Nicoll Rick Owens Roberto Cavalli Rodarte Rodnik Roksanda Ilincic Rue du Mail Ruffian -
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Salvatore Ferragamo Sari Gueron Sinha-Stanic Sonia Rykiel Sophia Kokosalaki Stærk Stella McCartney Stephen Burrows Sue Stemp -
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Tao Temperley London Thakoon Threeasfour Todd Lynn Tommy Hilfiger Topshop Unique Tory Burch Tracy Reese Trovata TSE Tuleh -
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Undercover United Bamboo -
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Valentino Vena Cava Vera Wang Veronique Branquinho Versace Viktor & Rolf Vivienne Tam Vivienne Westwood VPL -
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Wunderkind -
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Y & Kei Y-3 Yigal Azrouël Yohji Yamamoto Yves Saint Laurent -
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Zac Posen Zero + Maria Cornejo
